Generous to a Fault
Jeremiah 8:18-9:1; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-8a
September 19, 2010
Oddly enough I believe it harder for us who live in the midst of plenty to be grateful because we have so much we just assume that it was always ours anyway. We miss the giftedness of something we have never been without but it is gratefulness that will open our hearts to the blessings of God. We may have to learn how to be grateful. The best way to learn gratefulness is to practice it. I am learning. When I was younger I was disappointed because I didn’t understand yet that the gifts of life were not just the ones I wanted, what I worked to have and expected to receive. I am learning to give thanks for the gift of life as it comes to me receiving whatever comes as a gift. I try not to guess what is coming so that the gift continually surprises me. It is amazing how many gifts come if you are not expecting them.
Today’s word is about generosity. The message is a surprising gift. There is a direct link between generosity and gratefulness. In fact I believe generosity is dependent on being grateful. The more grateful we are, the more generous we will be. And the more generous we are, the more generous life is to us. As Jesus himself said, “ give and it will be given unto you . . .” (Luke 6:38)
Generosity is a lifestyle rooted in and dependent on a grateful heart. It is a generosity of things but also of spirit, of mercy, of forgiveness and kindness. It is a generosity of hopefulness. It is a generosity of faith that looks at a sad and broken world (and I am putting it mildly) and continues nevertheless to be generous., hopeful, and doing all the good we can, doing as little harm as possible, in short, staying in love with God.
A few years ago I was blessed with a renewal leave and in my reading came across a word that helped me move toward wholeness as I make choices about what I will do in the world in the days left to me. It is a word that is strangely encouraging though you might have to carry it around in your heart for a while before it speaks to you. It speaks to me. It makes everything and anything possible. It encourages me not to give up on the world. It liberates me from saving the world. It gives me back my life and every life as a valuable gift to the world. It is this word from Gandhi that you have as your word for contemplation: “Whatever you do will be insignificant but it is very important that you do it”. Over the years I have observed that it is often the word of paradox or, if not quite paradox, the word that seems to contradict itself that is the word that is closest to the truth.
This is a little embarrassing but one of my favorite illustrations of generosity is the time Eeyore had a birthday. I hate to keep doing this to you but this example, not only as a study of generosity, but also, perhaps, of insignificance, must be shared.
You really must read chapter six, entitled , In which Eeyore has a birthday and gets two presents yourself to get the full beauty of the story but I will summarize it for you with just the facts: Eeyore has a birthday and is very sad because nobody seems to notice and then Pooh happens by and finds out eventually that it is indeed Eeyore’s birthday and he has no presents or cakes or anybody taking any notice of him at all so he hurries off to do something about it. He meets up with Piglet who also wants to do something about it and what Pooh comes up with is an extremely generous idea - to give one of his precious honey pots full of honey to Eeyore for his birthday. Piglet wonders if he could go in on the present too but Pooh says no and Piglet decides to give him a balloon that he had because how can you go wrong with a balloon on your birthday. Unfortunately both Pooh and Piglet have some difficulty delivering their gifts to Eeyore due to certain flaws in their characters which we could characterize as the reality of the human condition if they were actually human which in a way they are as they clearly represent us and our most human condition.. Anyway. In the case of Piglet, he wanted to be the first to give Eeyore a present so he took his balloon and ran off as fast as he could to get to Eeyore before Pooh with his present and of course he was going so fast that he fell down and popped the balloon. To his credit he did continue and took the broken ballon to Eeyore anyway. Meanwhile, he need not of hurried because Pooh on his way with his gift began to have certain feelings that could not be denied and sat down and ate all the honey that was in the jar he was going to give to Eeyore. He, too, however, continued on with the empty jar to bring his gift to Eeyore though he took a slight detour to visit Owl so that he could write happy birthday for him and stick it on the jar so that the jar would be a useful jar and worthy gift after all.
And here is where it really gets interesting. Piglet did arrive first and rather pathetically offers Eeyore the burst balloon for his birthday.
“Thank you, Piglet”, said Eeyore. “You don’t mind my asking,” he went on, “but what colour was this balloon when it – when it was a balloon?”
“Red.”
“I just wondered . . . .Red”, he murmured to himself, “My favorite colour . . .How big was it?”
“About as big as me.”
“I just wondered . . .About as big as Piglet,” he said to himself sadly, “My favorite size. Well, well.”
It was at this time that Pooh finally arrives with his empty but useful pot and hence we have the surprising climax to our little story and a great insight into the nature of generosity:
When Eeyore saw the pot, he became quite excited.
“Why!” He said. “I believe my Balloon will just go into that Pot!”
“Oh no, Eeyore,” said Pooh. “Balloons are much too big to go into Pots. What you do with a balloon is, you hold the balloon . . .”
“Not mine,” said Eeyore proudly. “Look Piglet!” And as Piglet looked sorrowfully round, Eeyore picked the balloon up with his teeth, and placed it carefully in the pot; picked it out and put it on the ground; and then picked it up again and put it carefully back.
“So it does!” Said Pooh. “It goes in!”
“So it does!” Said Piglet. “And it comes out!”
“Doesn’t it?” Said Eeyore. “It goes in and out like anything.”
“I’m very glad,” said Pooh happily, “that I thought of giving you a Useful Pot to put things in.”
“I’m very glad,” said Piglet happily, “that I thought of giving you Something to put in a Useful Pot.”
But Eeyore wasn’t listening. He was taking the balloon out, and putting it back again, as happy as could be.
So, though it was a generous idea that Pooh and Piglet had, in the end it was Eeyore who was most generous in his surprising gratitude for what he was given and his generosity made everybody happy. This is important but perhaps even more important is this: Anybody can be generous at any time.
The gospel this morning seems to be saying that it doesn’t even matter why. We are often taught that motivations are as important or more important than actions but in this strange parable we hear that it is the act itself that matters and this is especially true when it comes to generosity. Anybody can be generous for any reason.
The steward’s generosity seems to be about saving himself which seems odd, too, when you think about how Jesus seemed to be teaching something quite different in other places. Who could forget his word that those who try to save themselves are lost but never mind, if anything, the complexity of these matters only gives them more depths to explore. We are not sure what exactly the steward was being generous with. Was it his masters possessions or was it his own share of the profits, we don’t know, but a funny thing happens along the way. By reducing what the debtors owe by a lot, he made them happy and they in turn being grateful to their generous master made the master happy who was also happy with his steward’s shrewdness in how he handled the whole thing. (And once again generosity makes everybody happy! Are you hearing this?!) And Jesus who is telling this story, what is he saying? Well maybe it is as simple as knowing what to do with what we have in our possession. Do with what you have so as to gain an eternal future. It is not how much debt was forgiven or wasted or lost however you look at it but how relationships were strengthened. In short, it is not what we have that secures our life, it is who we love and who loves us, it is our connection to each other and to God that matters. In the end it is not what we have that matters but what has us. Once again it is all about the love. Literally this parable could be saying that love is what is left when everything else is gone. And one day everything else will be gone. Everything.
Poor Jeremiah thinks it is already gone. The great prophet wonders how we will be saved. His people, not unlike us, the people of God today, turn away from God relentlessly. If this continues and there is no evidence to suggest that it will not, how will we be saved? Perhaps the steward has the answer or at least an answer. The steward in Jesus’ story recognizes that salvation will come from generosity not power or wealth and love is what will save us in the end. He may have technically been dishonest but he was also enlightened. With his “dishonest wealth” (what some would call mammon – Luke, by the way seems to imply that all money and possessions are mammon) the steward was generous to a fault, so generous that his dishonesty turned out to be a blessing not only for those whose debts were lessened but for the master who was loved for his mercy. (I have always said that Jesus is not a moralist like so many of his followers. No, he is on to something much bigger – something we call grace.) The steward was so dishonest that he wasn’t dishonest anymore.- another example of a great Biblical truth- good is stronger than evil. No good dishonesty can remain dishonest. Good will transforms its bearer. If we do good we will know goodness. No matter how far we go from God, God is generous to us because God is good and more than that, God’s love will not let us go. God’s goodness is our judge. Our generosity comes directly from God as a gift and the more we practice generosity ourselves the closer to God’s heart we become. So even this broken and sinful world, all those who turn away from God, all of us may be generous and see what happens. It is a wild and wonderful circle of blessing. Generosity blesses the give and the receiver. Generosity is not a cliché. Nor is it a fantasy. It can happen anywhere, anytime with anybody. Even you and me.
I will leave to the writer of the first letter to Timothy to have the last word: First of all, it says, first of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone for kings and those in high positions so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life . . .This is right and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (Compare this attitude high positions to our times. There is so much anger. What if we pray for our leaders instead of attack them?) Everyone is included in the circle of the blessings of generosity. We are to pray for those who hate us and those who love us. We can pray for those who agree with us and those who don’t. We are to pray for the honest and the dishonest alike, to be generous to a fault. We are to be generous with our possessions and our judgments and, in so doing, know the eternal generosity of God not because we have earned our way in but because it is where we are already and where we live everyday.
